Trial and Error
by smilelaughread
Summary: Sirius has to clean up an experiment gone wrong. 6/50 for the OTP Bootcamp Challenge at HPFC.


_Acrid - 6/50 for the OTP Bootcamp Challenge_

* * *

 _"Aguamenti! Aguamenti!_ Oh bugger, _Aguamenti!"_

The geysers of water that shot from the tip of his wand finally began to control the fire. It surrounded him, but was finally beginning to wane. Under Sirius' panicked and overenthusiastic assault, the flames were completely extinguished after a short but intense battle with the roaring flames.

He leaned against his bedpost for a moment, sagging after the exertion and gasped when the charred wood crackled and threatened to give way under his weight. A cursory glance at the other beds in the dormitory revealed blackened sheets and a layer of soot that covered every surface in sight.

Sirius groaned in dismay at the scene in front of him, clueless as to how he should proceed.

Moony was going to kill him. Then, _possibly,_ James might revive him for the sole purpose of killing him again. At least, if the blackened quidditch posters next to James' bed were as unsalvageable as they appeared.

The job was going to be a big one; even the curtains and hangings had caught fire, at some point. There was an acrid smell in the room, despite the air-cleansing spells he had cast when the fire had first caught. Thankfully, the dormitories were all protected against smoke; the poison was immediately vanished once the castle sensed it. He had been lucky, or he could have been smothered almost immediately.

His eyes fell on a stack of books at the base of Remus' bed, and he realized they, somehow, were charred and still slowly smouldering. Should he cast _aguamenti_ again and wet the books, or let them burn? What a question.

Perhaps a quick death would have been best.

All too soon, before he had even had the chance to begin with his cleaning efforts, he heard thumping up the stairs-at least one pair of steps. With dread in his stomach and the very fervent mantra _don't let them come in, please don't let it be James, Peter, or Remus, please, please_ searing its way through his mind, the telltale click of the lock sounded out as though in slow motion. The handle turned, slowly, practically mocking him for his stupidity and haphazard spell-casting.

With just fractions of seconds left, Sirius did what he could and hastily put up a variety of glamour spells. They were, admittedly, very basic, though he hoped they'd hold up well enough. It was his only chance.

He tried to look nonchalant, leaned (carefully) against his new-looking bedpost, and glared in the direction of the door.

Remus entered, swivelling to look around the room. When Remus' eyes landed on Sirius, who had adopted a _please-don't-blame-me-of-course-I'm-innocent_ look, there was suspicion in his eyes. For good reason, of course. That look of his was _almost_ patented and _definitely_ indicative of trouble when in use.

"What did you do, Padfoot?" he asked slowly, one eyebrow raised in an equally as characteristic motion.

Sirius tried to channel his inner puppy, opening his eyes wide and trying for an endearing expression. "What... what are you talking about?" He asked, ruining the effect by nervously clearing his throat.

"Hmm..." Remus responded. "Oh _shit,_ Sirius. You were testing without James again, weren't you?"

Sirius felt conflicted - he wanted to boast about his discovery, but the experiment had not ended spectacularly and he didn't want to tell Moony anything to reveal that. Sirius couldn't risk him finding out about the damage. His eyes quickly flicked over to Remus' bed, where clean books were now stacked on one another. For a moment, he felt his resolve waver, but then continued to focus his energy on the glamour before turning back to Remus.

Remus was suddenly much closer, looking down at him almost predatorily.

"Don't forget, Padfoot, that good boys who tell the truth are... rewarded," Remus appeared to have adopted a new method of interrogation. One that was, to Sirius' horror, very effective.

Sirius was conflicted again, because he very much wanted that reward. He tried to swallow, but his mouth had gone dry with anticipation. An idle thought crossed his mind: didn't bad boys get punished? That sounded appealing, too. It would probably have been the wrong thing to say.

Remus stepped closer, filling Sirius' senses with his scent. His eyes stared into- _through_ -Sirius', and Sirius suddenly felt muddled and lost. All he wanted was to cross the remaining distance between them. All he wanted was to be as close as possible to Remus.

He knew, though, that if he confessed, he would find himeslf in deep trouble. Especially if the books were discovered. He could hardly believe that Remus, with his heightened senses, would not have noticed the smell of smoke yet. Another look at Remus' strong gaze told Sirius that he was completely focused on Sirius. A shiver ran down his spine when he realized he had so thoroughly caught Remus' attention. He must be very special to have achieved something lie that.

Guilt flooded over him, and Sirius felt his magic crack a little.

"Don't get mad, okay?" Sirius relented, catching sight of Remus' bobbing Adam's apple. He had been successfully persuaded. "I kind of... set fire to the dormitory."

That obviously caught Remus off guard, because he took a shocked step back. The hungry look disappeared, only to be replaced with bemusement. He looked around, first to the left and then to the right, and finally landed back on Sirius.

"Where's the damage?" he said, eyes narrowed in sharp focus. His nostrils flared once, as though finally locating the smell that confirmed, to him, Sirius' story.

Sirius, suddenly very scared, lowered the glamours and locked his gaze firmly on the ground. He did not want to see the anger, and he also needed to figure out what to do about his racing pulse before he was punished-and not in a good way-by Remus for the destruction he had caused.

"Wha- Sirius! Did you _burn my books_? Those were from the library."

Sirius gave him a strange glance. "Sorry."

A strangled gasp escaped Remus lips as he continued investigating their dormitory, treading softly. "Oh Padfoot, McGonagall's going to murder you - brutally. And the House Elves, they'll be furious..."

Remus was so overcome with emotion that he took a heavy seat on his own bed, reaching for his books. The aghast expression on his face twisted into complete devastation when the action raised even more black soot.

When it finally settled, Remus was glaring at him, and Sirius could do nothing but trace patterns with his toe into the black dust that covered the floor.

"Sirius, never test products while James is in detention and I'm studying ever again. Please. Don't you know to keep it contained? How did this _happen_?"

Remus had his hands over his eyes, as though the scene was too much for him to handle.

"Will you help me clean, Moony?" Sirius' voice was quiet. "I'll be a very good boy."

There was more silence in the room, and Sirius continued to draw with his toe, though he was shaking with worry that this had been it, that Remus might never forgive him for what he'd done. He'd gone and ruined _library books,_ of all things!

With a protest frozen on his lips when the floor suddenly reappeared-in its rightful colour, too!-and his drawings disappeared, he looked up to see that Remus had begun circling the room, wand in hand. He was muttering under his breath, and slowly, the layer of soot seemed to detach itself from every surface.

"We'll need to hurry," Remus said, throwing a glance over his shoulder at Sirius, who was frozen with a lopsided grin on his face. "Or James and Peter will be back before we have a chance to... think about what you've done."

He finished with a wink that made Sirius' stomach flop, and Sirius allowed himself to revel, just for a moment, in the amazing knowledge that he had the best friend in the world. And quite possibly the sexiest. He gave himself just four or five seconds... maybe a little longer... to admire the concentration and precision that lined Remus' every move, and then turned to the beds himself, ready to help and in need of a distraction, or he might jump Remus right there in the dirty dormitory.

He focused on re-strengthening the bed frame, an unparalleled zeal in his actions. After all, they would probably end up needing one of the beds, and it would do no good to have one collapse in the middle of their actions.


End file.
